The turnaround plan implemented by CEO John Chen appears to be working for BlackBerry as the company announced it turned a small profit last quarter.

In first quarter results released last Thursday, the company outperformed analyst expectations and revealed several product rollouts planned for the coming year.

Financial results ending May 31, 2014 (all in U.S. dollars) included:

• Net profit of $23 million, compared to a loss of $84 million a year ago.

• A cash and investment balance of $3.1 billion, up from $2.7 billion last quarter.

• A reduction in operating expenses by 57 per cent year over year.

• Revenue of $966 million, down from $976 million last quarter.

During the annual stakeholder general meeting in Waterloo last week, Chen told investors he was pleased with the results, but said more work needs to be done. He also reminded the world that the improvement has come on the backs of employees laid off in recent years.

Last year the company announced up to 4,500 employees would be cut. More than 1,100 of those have been lost locally.

“Of course, this is the very beginning of our task,” said Chen, who took over as CEO seven months ago and tasked with restructuring the company to bring it back to profitability. “This is not easy, we’ve had to make a lot of sacrifices and this affects our good employees.”

The company continued to burn through some of its cash reserves last quarter. The $479 million the company added to its cash and investment balance was largely the result of a $397 million tax refund and the $287 million it made from real estate sales.

In total, the company used $255 million in the first quarter — still a significant decrease from the $784 million the company had to spend last quarter. The company is targeting to break even by the end of the 2015 fiscal year.

Shareholders who attended the meeting seemed buoyed by the good news and many thanked Chen for helping to engineer the company’s turnaround. One asked Chen what he was doing to help turn around the negative perceptions surrounding the brand, saying retailers have talked friends and relatives out of buying BlackBerry devices.

Chen said his main focus has been getting the company’s financial house in order before changing the tide of negativity. “Changing perceptions could be difficult,” he said.

As part of its turnaround the company has shifted its focus away from the consumer market and back to the business and executive market.

He discussed the planned rollout of the new BlackBerry Passport, described as a cross between a tablet and a smartphone with a keyboard and a larger screen set to launch in Europe in September.

The company is also setting its sights on Project Ion, targeting the burgeoning “Internet of Things” — a concept that will lead to interconnected devices ranging from cars and dishwashers to fridges and lighting in your home.

“This will be a huge trend in five years,” Chen said. “We wouldn’t want to miss it.”